


A Dragons Dream: Escape

by TheLunerKingdom



Series: A Dragon's Dream [1]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Escape Plans, Fantasy, Gen, Mild Abuse, Mild Language, Village of Ryokuryuu | The Green Dragon (Akatsuki no Yona), Yona of the dawn prequel, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27536731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLunerKingdom/pseuds/TheLunerKingdom
Summary: "My name was Jae-Ha and I was going to be the first dragon to escape this cage called the destiny of the green dragon warrior."We know from the manga that Jae-Ha escaped from his village when he was twelve and after a long difficult journey found and joined Gi-Gan and her pirates. Ever wonder what that looked like? Heres my answer.Part 1 Escape, is about Jae-Ha’s childhood leading up to the moment when he can finally fly away.
Series: A Dragon's Dream [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170833
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. A Dragons Desire

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone I tired to keep the tone around the same level of the manga. There are scenes of violence and abuse. While they are not overly graphic (It's nothing worse then the manga or a standard shonen) they are there. So if that bothers you, you might want to skip this. 
> 
> With that out of the way I hope you enjoy this prequel about Jae-Ha's childhood and fight against destiny

Not again, I thought to myself as I was dragged back to my cell, my feet scraping against the stone.

“Do you have any idea what you've done!” Garou yelled at me. But he sounded far away as if his voice was muffled. I shut my eyes, blinded by the sudden darkness of my cell when my eyes were adjusted to the sunlight. For once, they were adjusted to the sunlight.

I had been so close..., I thought.

“You endangered not only yourself, but everyone here! How can you be so selfish? Are you an idiot!” Garou yelled at me as he threw me against the wall pinning me in place. Holding his strong scaled foot against my chest.

This wasn't how the soaring leg of the green dragon was supposed to be used, I thought to myself. As he grabbed my arms snapping the familiar damned chains around them. Chaining my arms and legs to the wall.

I slumped, once again I was trapped in a dark room, even as I yearned for the sunlight, for the sky, for freedom.

“How many times do we need to go over this? You can’t escape. You will never escape! You're going to get yourself killed trying. Do you want to die, successor? Don't you ever try that again!” Garou yelled. Slapping me.

No, I don't want to die. So why were you keeping me here away from the sky… I thought. As Garou grabbed me by my collar.

“You think that you can make it, well you can’t. You're, not a dragon, you're a monster!” he yelled throwing me against the wall. Blood poured from my nose and cheek as I remained numb, limp, accepting my beating while Garou yelled at me.

I didn't hear anything after that as he pummeled me yelling. My disheveled green hair falling in my eyes. I remained limp as I tightly held on to the words in my mind. “You can’t keep me grounded, I... I am the Green Dragon, Jae-Ha and I’m going to run away.”

Finally, Garou finished punishing me before sighing himself.

“Jae-Ha, this has got to stop. Think about what you've done. There is no escaping, never. For 85 years green dragons have tried to escape, and none have been able to. So, give up. I never want to see you attempting this foolishness again,” he said. Getting up walking towards the door.

Instinctively I reached for it, reaching for the sunlight. My heart racing, I didn't want to be shut in the dark again. Garou noticed and sighed looking down. His eyes took on a kinder softer look.

“Just give up there is no escaping. And even if you could the outside world …it’s not what you think it is. You think it's a place where your life will have meaning, but it's even more meaningless out there. There's nothing for us, remember that Jae-Ha,” he said. As he stepped outside closing the door leaving me trapped in darkness.

I heard his footsteps echo back across the pathway. Only then did I scream.

“Eerrrraaahhah,” I screamed. Thrusting my arms against the chains. Making no headway as I struggled to slip my wrists out of them, or bend the metal, or rip them from their walls. But they held me tight, cutting my wrists.

I looked up, barely seeing anything in the windowless cell as blood trickled down my arms.

“I will escape. I will. There has to be more than this, there just has to be,” I muttered.

I reached down feeling my leg covered in green scales. The soaring leg of the green dragon. Despite how my leg looked, I wasn't a monster. Like the rest of the villagers wanted to think, I was a dragon. and I refused to believe that this cadged existence was all there was.

I felt the call to the sky deep within my soul. Even if outside was a meaningless existence then it would still be better than waiting here to be imprisoned for my entire life or sold… I shivered in terror remembering the only hope the green dragons had, the crimson dragon king, Hiryuu.

No way. I was not going to sit here waiting my entire life like so many dragons before me, only to trade one set of chains for another. I exhaled trying to slow my breathing.

“My name is Jae-Ha, I am the Ryokuryuu, the green dragon,” I muttered. I had the power to fly, to jump really high with my right leg. Practically flying.

But apparently because one of my predecessors used that power recklessness, now all green dragon had to suffer. Chained up in this tiny room, alone, cold, and starving. I wanted to be free, to feel the sunlight, and wind on my face. The sky called to me, I wanted to answer. I wanted to jump and soar.

The green dragon was one of four dragon warriors, the others being white, yellow, and blue. All servants of the crimson dragon king, An ancient king who lived a long time ago, and was prophesied to be born again. But I didn't buy it. People didn't come back from the dead, ever, even reincarnated dragon gods.

Most green dragons lived for the day when our master would return to claim us, to take us with him as his loyal servants. As we spent our lives serving him, loving him, dying for him. I shivered, chills running down my spine as I imagined what he would look like.

Probably huge, barely fitting inside my door. Glowing red with a giant sword and spitting fire. He would have to be a man of significant power to command all the dragons. A man of great power and arrogance. A huge crown on his head as he crushed me and my brothers under his foot. He would have to be insanely powerful if he wanted to control me, let alone the rest of the dragon warriors.

Dragons like Garou waited, hoped, prayed for Hiryuu to rescue them from this cursed prison. But I… was different. I was terrified.

I was so scared that one day the Hiryuu would come for me. He would come to take me before I could escape on my own. He would take me away on an even tighter chain, the chain of my destiny. But I didn't want that destiny, I wanted to be free. To live my own life to do what I wanted.

I had vowed that no matter what, I was going to escape. I had to. I curled up on the mat that I slept on, shivering in the dark. My name was Jae-Ha, and I was going to be the first dragon to escape this cage called the destiny of the green dragon warrior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....I can't believe I finally worked up the courage to post this. I hope you liked it. Grammar and spelling are my weakness so helpful criticism is welcome. More chapters are on the way! Thanks for reading :D


	2. A Dragons Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nine-year-old Jae-Ha has a nightmare, and is comforted by a unusual red star.

There was a pounding on my door, I rubbed my eyes squinting. 

“Garou what are you doing here this late,” I mumbled. Confused as to why he was waking me up. 

The door burst open to a bright red light. I held up my hand to shield my eyes, as a man glowing red stepped into my room. He couldn't fit through the doorway bursting a hole in the wall as he entered, bellowing. 

“Where is the Ryokuryuu!” 

I gulped shivering, fearing the strength that this man had, and the connection I felt from my dragon's blood stirring within me. 

_“No stop it. This wasn't my feelings. This was the dragon’s feelings, the Ryokuryuu’s inside me, not mine. Not Jae-Ha’s,”_ I thought. But I felt drawn to the man even in my terror.

He was huge, wild red hair, red beard, his armor was dripping red. As if made from the scales of a still bleeding dragon. His face scared in a number of places, gigantic sword in his hands as he pointed it to me. I saw my reflection in its gleaming blade.

“There you are,” he said laughing maniacally. 

I shivered shrinking back against the wall, trying to hide, but my chains tightened holding me in place. Not even letting me move as the man stepped forward, closer and closer. He reached out for my neck. My heart raced feeling my fear and the dragons longing to be beside this man. 

Stop it, I tried to scream but I couldn’t. The man laughed 

“Ryokuryuu, I am Hiryuu, the crimson dragon king. You want to serve me right,” he said. 

No, I didn’t. I wanted to live my own life. No, let me go. But my mouth moved on its own. 

“Yes your majesty, my life is yours,” the dragon within me said. 

No that wasn't me. Stop it, stop it. Someone save me, I tried to scream. As the chains vanished from my arms and legs, a new one appeared around my neck as I was dragged away by the crimson dragon king, with three other children like me. The blue, yellow, and white dragons. 

I screamed as the village elder nodded, receiving a sack of gold from the king. 

“We’re glad for your return your majesty.” He bowed “Good luck taming that monster,” he said spitting as he finished his sentence. 

Hiryuu laughed. “He's no trouble. He will gladly die for my sake. isn't that right,” he yelled. Yanking on my chain as I was dragged from my village to my death. 

I screamed waking up in the dark with a start, scrambling to my feet. The clinking of my chains sending me into a frenzy as I screamed, reaching for my neck searching for the chain finding nothing, but still feeling it. I screamed and screamed my throat raw. 

No, I didn't want this curse, this power of mine. I didn't want to be bought and owned. 

“Someone help me,” I screamed. 

There was pounding footsteps outside my door, and I shrank back in the corner of my room holding my hands over my head screaming. 

“Stay away from me. Please don't take me.” I whimpered. My resolve to escape faltered by the tears that fell freely from my face. 

The door opened, I screamed even harder shivering and thrashing. 

“Stop it. Don't...I …” I couldn't even speak or form the words. My heart pounding so hard I couldn't breathe. 

“Kid…” a voice called. 

“No don't take me. Stay away from me. Leave me alone. I don't want this. I’m not your slave. Please someone help me,” I screamed. 

“Kid… Jae-Ha,” the voice said, sterner now. 

“Leave me alone, don't take me. I’m..not your sword, not your shield. I won’t give you my life…” 

“Kid, calm down before you wake everyone up,” Garou’s voice yelled. 

Wait… Garou. I looked up amid my tear stained face seeing my predecessor, the green dragon before I had been born. My guardian, father figure, and warden…

I looked around wildly, searching for the crimson dragon king, the man who would have absolute power over me, who I would be powerless against. But I didn't see him. It was still dark outside, there was no red light, nothing. I glanced around, my clothes soaked with sweat. I must have had a nightmare….and woken Garou. 

Oh crap, he was bound to beat me up as punishment for waking him. But Garou just stood there and sighed. 

“What am I going to do with you,” he muttered running his hand through his hair.

I winced waiting for the beating that didn't come. Instead, he walked over reaching out for me. 

“Jae-Ha,” he muttered. Placing his hand on my shoulder, with a genteelness I hadn't felt in years since I had been a small child. I shivered terrified but holding my tongue not wanting to get beat up. 

“What was it…a nightmare,” Garou said. 

I hesitated, fearing a beating but then nodded. Garou only sighed.

“Me too kid, me too,” he said. 

What was that supposed to mean, but before I could think about it too much Garou looked around the room. 

“Look the elder is going to get mad at both of us if you keep screaming like this. He’ll say you're trying to get people to attack the village. So if you promise me you're not going to try and escape, promise me …I’ll take you outside for a bit,” he said. 

I hesitated, but my hesitation didn't last. 

“I promise,” I said. Desperate to escape, to leave this room where I kept seeing the crimson king bursting though. 

Garou sighed reaching for my chains, taking a key. The sound of the lock snapping open was the best thing I had ever heard. It filled me with energy, I felt like I could jump over an entire mountain right then and there. 

“Slow down kid, remember your promise. Break it and you'll never see daylight again,” Garou said. 

I thought about defying him then and there, about escaping, about bolting to freedom the second he undid my last chain. But he glared at me. 

“We both know I’m breaking the rules this once, try anything and we’ll both suffer the wrath of the elder. You can’t escape because I’m still stronger,” he slammed his leg on the floor creating a dent. something I couldn't do yet. 

As much as I wanted to escape, I needed to escape, I couldn't be trusted to not try. But I also didn't want to get Garou or myself in trouble with the elder again. As if sensing this, he never let my dragon foot touch the ground. The second he undid my last chain he lifted me on his back, carrying my in a piggyback ride holding onto my legs, stopping me from running. But at the moment I didn't care. I was desperate for fresh air. 

I gulped the cold night air, shivering, shaking. Garou didn't ask me what my nightmare was, and I didn't want to tell him. I may be only nine years old, but I knew that all the other dragons wanted this. They wanted Hiryuu to come rescue them. As if a life of slavery in the outside world was better than a life imprisoned here. They could at least use their power in service of the king. 

But not me. I wanted a life that was my own, not bound to hear or Hiryuu. I wanted to do what I wanted, as Jae-Ha, not as the Ryokuryuu. 

“The stars are sure bright tonight,” Garou said. I glanced up reaching for them. Seeing a single red star among them. I shivered feeling both drawn to the star and fearful, as it was also red like my nightmare. 

However the more I looked at it, the calmer I felt. Sure it was red like Hiryuu but it was a star, not a dragon. If only I could reach that star, reach the sky. Maybe I could, if I could just leap high enough. That’s what I was meant to do. 

Staring at the star I felt my dragon leg tingle. As if my very dragon's blood was coming alive. My leg felt stronger than it ever had before. 

“Garou …” I said hesitantly. He nodded. 

“Yup kid, I feel it too. Doesn't make sense, not with your existence sapping my life force, but I also feel it,” he said. 

How was this possible that both Garou and my dragon's legs could feel powerful. Whenever a new dragon was born the old one slowly lost their power until they died. Garou told me before that his predecessor died when he was only four years old. I was nine, every day I took more and more of his power. But I was gaining power slowly compared to other green dragons. 

I shivered. Garou wasn't always nice to me, he yelled at me a lot he beat me up when I “misbehaved” or tried to escape. But he was also a calming presence. He used to comfort me when I was younger, alone, and scared. When my chains first started cutting my wrists, he came for me. and while gruff he still held me until I fell asleep. He was both my warden …and the closest thing to a father I would ever have. 

“Hey, Garou…” I asked hesitating. 

“Yeah kid,” he said. 

“When are you going to die?” I muttered. I felt him stiffen his tone dropped. 

“What was that kid are you saying that I should just..” But he stopped feeling my head buried in his messed up hair. “Kid...,” he said. 

“I just.. I’m nine years old already, most dragons die after three or four years. And I…I don't want..” 

I couldn't finish the thought, I couldn't find the words. Alone didn't sound right. Fear, genuine fear was stirring darkness within my soul. I knew the idea of Garou dying was part of the source, but exactly what I was feeling I suddenly couldn't put words to. 

Garou wasn't always this nice to me, he was mean to me a lot more. But he was all I had. I wouldn't say I was too attached to him. He was the only person capable of chasing me down, the only person standing in the way of my freedom. But the idea of him dying still scared me and made my stomach hurt and I didn't know why.

I felt like Garou's grip on my legs change. It wasn't loosened but there was a lack of hostility, a gentile firmness, a steadiness as if trying to be reassuring. 

“You little idiot. I’ve held on much longer than most and there’s still life in me yet kid. I’m not going anywhere,” he said. He looked up to the sky 

“Besides it's not every day you see a star this bright. Seeing this star ..makes me feel like I’ll live another hundred years.” 

I nodded, not really believing it. I knew it couldn't be too much longer. But if I felt relief at having one less person to chase me or sorrow at losing the only person like me I didn't know.

I glanced up to that star, if I was just powerful enough maybe I really could leap for that star and reach it, and finally escape this place. Anywhere had to be better than here. 

“Hey, Garou” I mumbled again. 

“What kid,” he said equally soft. 

“Why can’t we leave. We’re alone out here, no ones watching us. Why can’t we fly away?” I said. My eyes drawn to that pulsing red star feeling pulled to it, reaching out for it as the urge to fly straight for it created a pang of longing and sorrow in my chest. Bordering on desperation to reach that light. 

“No ones here to stop us. Why can’t we leave together and fly away,” I asked. Feeling my excitement and yearning creep into my voice.

Garou sighed “It’s not that simple Jae-Ha,” he muttered looking down. His messy fading green hair falling over his face. 

“Why not?” I asked. My heart sinking as I felt the crushing weight of my hopes falling. We were so close out here alone, with no chains on me or Garou. We could escape, we could leap right now and fly. Why didn't he? He had all the power in his legs to fly, to take me away with him to find someplace we could call home. Living our lives under and in the sky until he died. 

“You'll understand when your older,” he said. 

“What do you mean? Why can’t we just fly now?” I said. 

“It’s just if we leave who will wait for Hiryuu,” Garou said softly. 

“Hiryuu doesn't matter, he’s dead. Why should we wait for him?” I said. Why should we waste our lives for some destiny that others thrust upon us?" 

“Because he's all we have left,” Garou said. 

That wasn't true I didn't want to believe it was true. But even though I couldn't see his face from his shoulders, I could feel his sorrow and despair. His hopeless. And the words of protest fell from my lips. He had given up a long time ago. The villagers had broken him, making him think that even without physical chains around his wrists, he was bound to this place by invisible ones. 

I, the green dragon was bound by physical chains. Held in place by iron, my spirit and will refusing to surrender to my fate. Garou, with all the power, was bound by invisible ones, holding him in place and preventing us from leaving. The thought crushed me. 

We continued to stare at the stars. I gave up pushing Garou to leave, even though we were so close to the sky I could taste it. 

It was too soon that Garou took me back inside, although the growing light in the sky told me it was almost dawn. We must have been outside for hours just staring at the stars. Watching as the red star pulsed brighter and brighter in the morning light. But it wasn't enough, it was never enough before I had doomed to be shut away again. 

Once again in the cold dark room, chains around my wrists and legs. Alone in the dark, I closed my eyes. Wishing for freedom. Freedom from my destiny. Freedom to do what I wanted. To run wild with my power instead of being shut up. Freedom to live my life on my own terms, the way I wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)  
> Writing for Garou was really difficult! Mostly because of the juxtaposition he's in. In the cannon he abuses Jae-Ha, but Jae-Ha doesn't seem to hate him for it. I always got the impression that Jae-Ha hates the treatment he received, but not Garou. So then I had to ask, why? Why wouldn't he hate someone who's hurting him? And then I had an idea worthy of a pretty boy genius. Balance out Garou's abuse with moments of empathy. If he also has moments of kindness and sympathy I think it's easier for Jae-Ha to hate what he's done, but not the person behind it. And I liked how it came out.


	3. A Dragons Vow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Jae-Ha talks/fights with Garou, vows that he will never serve Hiryuu and plans to escape.

Garou left me alone for a few days after that, only visiting me to deliver food and water once a day. He looked shaken, but if it had to do with the star or the new feeling in my leg, I would guess it was my leg. 

I leaned down rolling up my pant leg, taking off my shoe rubbing the rough scales that covered my foot up to my knee. The soaring leg of the green dragon, my dragon warrior power. 

I had been taught, schooled, and told about not much about the world. I was painfully naive in a lot of ways, but not about the dragons. Garou never slacked in that area. 

About how Hiryuu, the red dragon god, became human, was betrayed and four dragons gave their blood to humans to protect him. 

Hiryuu had long since died, but the dragons remained. Centuries later dragon warriors... People like Garou and I were born in our villages. With the power inherited from our ancestor who made the pact with the dragons. 

Garou said that one day Hiryuu would return. And when he did the dragon warriors must serve him, that's why we were still born, why we still had our power. We were waiting for him. I always rolled my eyes dreaming of the sky. I had been told of our glorious purpose, our destiny over and over again. 

I knew all that. I knew that whenever a dragon died, a new one was born to replace them. Or when a dragon was born while the current dragon was still alive, the new child sapped the strength and power of the current dragon until there was nothing left of their power or life force…

As I rubbed my fingers over my bumpy scales, I felt more power than I ever had before. My muscles felt cramped like they had to move. Not even stretching them helped. I had this antsy feeling that I had to move, to jump and run. 

I had always had these feelings, I think it came with living a life imprisoned. But it had never been this strong before. Did it have something to do with that star ..or was it the weird dream I had last night. 

Like my blood was simmering begging for motion. I felt a driving in my heart that I needed to be doing something, I couldn't just be sitting still. 

I shivered reaching for my new blanket to wrap myself in, searching for some sort of comfort, huddling underneath the rough well worn material. 

…Well to call it new might be an overstatement. The cloak was worn, really worn. And threadbare in some spots. Almost as if it had belonged to a traveler. 

A traveler who traveled miles and miles for centuries. The cloak felt old and ancient, but it was new to me. I had the weirdest dream last night. For once I didn't see Hiryuu reborn to drag me away. Instead, it was a soft presence. 

A person I couldn't exactly see was outlined in gold. I remember feeling a warmth from that person's light. Comfort, like I was with a family, a real family. 

I smiled smelling the cloak as the words from my dream echoed in my mind.

_“How foolish. To keep the green dragon on the ground, that's something no one can do.”_

I shut my eyes, letting those words play over and over again in my mind. _That’s something no one could do._ That meant that even as I felt the chains on my wrists and legs. That even contained, they couldn't hold me here. That I could escape even when it seemed impossible. 

When I woke up I was wearing this cloak as a blanket. I had no idea how it got here, it's not like anyone but Garou was really allowed to see me. Or I supposed the village elders were, but they didn't care. Anyone who might set me free was forbidden. I wasn't allowed to have friends my own age or even meet my parents, for the fear that they would feel sympathy for me. Or even Hiryuu forbid, see me as a human being, and set me free.

I leaned against the stone, a human being with a monster in his leg, destined to be different. A dragon warrior, with a human heart. A heart that screamed for freedom, begged for it. 

And the feeling was only growing stronger and stronger. Garou was bound to be angry. Kind as he was with the nightmare, he got mad whenever my dragon's leg felt stronger. I could only assume that his rage was because as I grained power, he lost his. And having no one to turn to he vented it on me. 

I hated it, but I could never hate him. He was a victim as much as I was. My breath caught in my throat as I felt my leg tremble beneath my fingers. 

Garou had told me that the dragons bond with Hiryuu was strong, that absolute loyalty to him was etched into our very core. The thought disgusted me. 

I felt sick thinking that, even as my leg tingled. It felt like it was growing stronger and stronger by the day, like it was itching to be used to move, to fly. 

I was feeling restless. I stood up and started bouncing on my leg testing its strength. A dangerous feeling stirring within my chest, as I started struggling with my chains. This power was overwhelming I couldn't stay here any longer.

The door suddenly opened. I froze seeing Garou finally entering. Holding both food and a small tattered book. He blinked his eyes adjusting to the darkness. 

“Sit back down ryuu,” he snapped. I crossed my arms slumping to the cold floor, the feelings of hope disappearing away as suddenly as they came. That's right as long as Garou was here there was no escaping. He still had the dominate power of the green dragon, and he would never let me leave. He would chase me down however many times I tired.

“You're not going anywhere. No ones ever made it. So just give up.” he sighed “Do you really want another beating now.” 

No, I didn’t, he beat me up enough. Sometimes to take out his frustration at how unfair the villagers treated him, and sometimes I kind of asked for it. I had tried to escape a few times before and each time had been met with failure. 

Once when I was five I tried to run away when I had been let outside for a brief moment, claiming I wanted to meet my mother. I never even made it to the gate. 

Another when I was seven and outgrew my shackles, I tried to bolt when they replaced them. 

And another was a few days ago when I had managed to slip out of them and run. I really thought I was going to make it that time. I could see the village gate. But Garou grabbed my leg and I was dragged back here. 

I had tried almost every trick in the book. Pretending to be sick, making myself sick, being good, being bad, begging, pleading, trying to bargain, threatening, nothing had worked. If you chain a dragon who's meant to soar in the sky then I shouldn't be surprised if every trick in the book, was a trick that my predecessors had not only used, but invented, and were wise to. Making escape truly impossible. 

Luckily today it didn't seem like Garou wanted to take out his anger on me. As angry as the abuse made me, I also couldn't help but pity him. The treatment he received couldn't have been any better than mine. Trapped forever, until a new dragon was born and started sapping his strength. 

I wouldn't say I forgave him...There was too much anger and resentment. Just because the world was mean to him didn't mean he had to take it out on me. But I also understood his pain, it was the same pain I felt. And I would wish this miserable existence on nobody.

Garou walked over to me, still holding his supplies. No, if anything I didn't want to hate people. After every beating I received, every time my chains were tightened, I felt the desire for revenge. And it scared me. 

While learning to read, I had read stories about people who lose themselves to revenge and that really scared me. It was like being consumed by revenge took away your freedom, it was trading one chain for another. I didn't want that, I wanted to be free of all my chains. 

So I didn't hate Garou, I didn't want revenge on the people who mistreated me. All I wanted was to escape this place and never ever return. But that wasn't going to happen. Not that I had any plans to stop trying. I just had to be more powerful, more creative, find some loophole that I could exploit, and when I got the chance, bolt. 

“Come on ryuu,” Garou said. Opening the book he was holding. It wasn't much, it was beat up like everything else we owned, but it was enough. I rolled my eyes, hugging my legs trying to hide the tingling feeling still in my right leg. As Garou started to go over the history lesson. 

I looked to the side sadly, I had heard this lesson over and over again. Come on, the dragon king lived hundreds of years ago, almost two centuries ago. There had to be other more important stuff I could be learning about for history. 

“Now listen hear Ryokuryuu, absolute loyalty is etched into our very blood. Do not underestimate the bond that the four dragons, that _you_ share with Hiryuu. When he returns you will know him on sight,” Garou said. 

But I wasn't listening, I would know him on sight alright. But that wasn't going to be because my blood called to him, it was because it would be hard to miss the conceited, arrogant, powerful man who thought he could control all the dragons. What sort of force would he use to contain us all. 

It had to be massive if he could control us. I bet if we all jumped him at once… No he would probably all have us on leashes too tight to do anything but die in his place. 

Maybe even my treatment here was …training or conditioning of some sort. Trying to break my spirit so I wouldn't fight Hiryuu. Chain me up, make me feel like life couldn't get worse, so that when offered another chain one gilded in gold it would seem too good to be true. 

I glanced at the simple fish Garou had in the basket, not even with a bed of rice. Starve me just enough to avoid malnutrition, make me so desperate that all the rich foods Hiryuu would offer, make my mouth water after years of hunger.

Being able to see the sunlight, even on a leash after years of yearning in the dark. 

And after being chained down, forced to hide my power. The ability to use it wisely as Hiryuu commanded would seem unreal. The ability to actually use my power. 

But I clenched my fist, I didn't care if I had to eat simple fish forever, I wouldn't be broken by this place. I had to escape, I had to. I wouldn't trade my steel chains for a gold one. I wouldn't ever join Hiryuu’s side, ever. 

Besides he had been dead for centuries, just because our bloodline lived on didn't mean he was coming back, or even if he did, dragons had been waiting for him alone in the dark forever. He wasn't going to be born in my lifetime, I wasn't the dragon who was born to be his servant. I was just another blank face, just another name. A drop in the bucket of dragon warriors, there was nothing special about me. 

So I refused to let destiny dictate my life, I was going to escape. I was going to get out of here. I felt a slap on my face as Garou snapped. 

“Pay attention. Are you even listening to me,” he said. 

I sighed “Garou what's the point …Do you really believe the legends that Hiryuu will come for us,” I said.

Garou was speechless. Uh oh maybe I made a mistake he trembled shaking with rage. Damn it, I knew I made a mistake. I shouldn't have said that. I was bringing up years of rage and loneliness. 

He slapped me again, sending me flying as far as my chains would allow. He walked over rage emanating from him.

“Who knows or cares if Hiryuu’s coming, he never came for me and he won’t come for you either. All of us are doomed to live out our cursed lives here in this nightmare village,” he yelled.

I looked down my scruffy green hair falling over my eyes. I was different. I didn't want Hiryuu to come for me, I was going to run away. I winced knowing I should stop, knowing that I should just let him scream at me, but I didn't know better. 

“Then why are we here Garou, why don't we escape? Why don't we leave. They can’t stop us if we go together..” I started. 

But Garou got a crazy smile on his face. 

“Oh no you're not going anywhere. I won’t give you that satisfaction. If I couldn't escape neither will you. The one joy I get is chasing you down and making sure you never go anywhere,” he yelled. Before leaving slamming the door leaving me in darkness once again.

I rubbed my cheek reaching for the fish he left behind. Well, it was worth a shot, I had tried another trick, appealing to Garou. And that didn't seam to work. I reluctantly bit into the fish, it wasn't much but if I was going to escape I needed food. I couldn't give up, no matter what anyone said I was going to escape. 

I felt the dragon's blood tingle in my leg again, stronger still. How much more power did I really have to go. Most dragons gained all their power around five years old, I was nine and I still didn't have full power. But if I was nine then really how much more power did I need to get before I could leave this nightmare and escape. My power couldn't be contained. 

_“How foolish to keep the green dragon on the ground, that's something no one can do.”_ The words echoed in my mind. I exhaled 

“That's something no one can do,” I muttered repeating the words. 

I had to escape, I had to. Who cared if I knew nothing about the outside world. I had to leave, anywhere was better than here, waiting in fear for a king that would never come. 

I tried to slip out of my chains after I ate and failed. Had Garou tightened them after the last time. I struggled, I spat on my wrists. I wiggled and yanked, kicking at the wall, kicking at the chains. But even the great dragon's leg didn't do anything, it didn't even dent them. 

I tried for hours and hours making no headway until I finally slumped on my mat to sleep, tears in my eyes. I just wanted, no I needed to escape. But was it really impossible? If no green dragon ever had escape then why should I be the first? Damn destiny, and the dragons. Damn it all, I wanted freedom.

Damn even my dragon leg. If I didn't have this power then I would have gotten to live with my mother and father instead of Garou. I could have left whenever I wanted. Why did it have to be me? I never asked for this power, I never asked for this curse causing me to be chained up like some wild animal. 

I sighed, no even a wild animal would have managed to get free by now. For nine long years, I had been trapped. I just wanted to escape I wanted to be free.

_“To keep the green dragon on the ground, thats something no one can do.”_ Thats right, I exhaled snuggling up in my blanket, still feeling the soft warm yellow presence. It would be ok, I was going to escape. I don't care how long it took, one day I would gain full power and once I did I was going to fly away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday! And kept the annoying relatives, who just want to complain and be miserable at bay. (Or so socially distant that they were in a different house XD) I felt like Garou was channeling Isabella here, telling Jae-Ha to just give up. But like Emma, Norman, and Ray he never will! Go ahead Jae-Ha vow to never side with Hiryuu. Don't mind me I’m just searching for some music, I believe it was called “curb your enthusiasm.” Also Zeno cameo!


	4. A Dragons Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Jae-Ha gets a teacher and starts training to escape.

“You know what Zeno, you’re right. I am furious.” I heard a voice say. 

Was I dreaming or... I had to be. I became aware of a voice that sounded familiar, it sorta sounded like mine but older. 

“I can’t believe thous morons. I turn my back for two centuries and look at what they've done.”

I opened my eyes coming face to face with a tall man, holding his hand over his face. He had green hair pulled back into a high ponytail, purple eyes, fangs for teeth, dressed in a flowing brown cloak, and carrying a long spear. 

“Who are you,” I asked.

He smirked at me but answered my question with one of his own. 

“Hey kid, you want to escape don't you,” he said. Before he facepalmed. “No of course you do. You're a green dragon in chains.” My heart raced I nodded. 

“I’m going to escape,” I said. He snorted, gently bonking my head with his spear shaft. 

“Not like that, you are,” he said. I rubbed my head. His tone was firmer than Garou's but more playful. He bent down to look me in the eyes. 

“We’re going to get you out of here. Now show me that dragons leg of your's kid,” he said. 

I kicked off my right shoe, showing my dragons leg, the source of my power and misery. If only I had been born without it, then I wouldn't have to worry about destiny. I wouldn't have to stay shut up in this village I could just leave. 

I felt my face going red, was I seriously blushing about my leg. Sure it wasn't exactly the prettiest thing to look at, and even if I sometimes wished I didn't have this power so I could be free, I had had it all my life. It was the only thing I had known. The man looked at it then to me. 

“Alright kid, let’s see how strong you are. Kick me,” he said. I swung around kicking my leg. 

“No higher. You kick like that you're only going to kick someone's shins,” he said. But this was as high as I could kick. I tried to move my leg higher but it didn't work.

“Ahhrgg fine, like this,” he said. He swung his leg reaching above his head. I stood their mouth open. “Now you do it,” he said. 

I tried but I couldn't get my leg high enough. He facepalmed. 

“Oh boy do we have work to do,” he mumbled. 

“I’m trying, but Garou never taught me how to use my dragon's leg,” I said. The man groaned.

“Really? Nothing? Man, how badly have they been slacking off. Did he tell you anything useful,” he asked dumbfounded. I shook my head 

“Only that I’m supposed to just do whatever he or Hiryuu says,” I said. The man snorted.

“Yeah, he was always unreasonable. Always barking orders and he was so demanding. Blah blah blah, stay safe. Don't get yourself killed. Protect your brothers. Play nice with your brothers. No, you can not drop Zeno from the roof to see if he bounces. Always so full of sunshine and smiles. All while Zeno, Abi, and Gu-En were infatuated with him. Arrogant idiots,” he muttered to himself. Before he raised his head and looked to me. 

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Stretch your legs kid. Work on your flexibility and then you're going to practice three types of kicks. The roundhouse, the snap, and a flying leap. Here bounce on your leg. Let's see how much lift you get,” he said. 

I started bouncing on my leg trying to leap as high as I could, surprisingly high. With each jump I leapt higher and higher until I was almost jumping high enough to reach just above his head. 

“Ok not bad, not too bad for the level of power you've got. Keep practicing even just little leaps. Be a coiled spring and practice that,” he said. 

He then showed me how to move my body and how to kick with my leg. 

“When doing a roundhouse kick you want to strike with your heal. That's where the power is. Hayyha,” he yelled. Showing off his own power. He kicked with such ferocity I felt the very air rush around me.

“Now you try,” he said. I bounced on my leg trying to feel the power from it. 

“Hiyaaa,” I yelled. Trying to kick straight out like he did, not able to get nearly the same level of height.

He sighed “Alright kid, you did good. That's enough for now. Keep practicing I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he called as he started to fade. 

“Wait who are you,” I called back. Somehow I felt like I already knew. There could only be one person who knew how to train a green dragon. Who had hair and eyes like mine.

“Call me Shu-Ten,” he called. Before vanishing. As I woke up hand outstretched, back in my cell. Chains once again surrounding my arms and legs, it was only a dream. 

My hope was crushed it was only a dream. Damn it, why had it only been a dream. I closed my eyes I felt the crushing weight. For one blissful night, I hadn't had the nightmare about Hiryuu, I had dreamt about a place where I could really escape, that I could get strong enough to escape. 

And now here again I was trapped. I felt even more depressed than normal since I had a taste of freedom, of hope. I glanced down to my dragons leg, seeing that my shoe was kicked off… Just like my dream. _“No way,”_ I thought. Was it real, did I really, maybe have a teacher. 

My heart raced as I searched for my shoe, seeing that it was kicked all the way to the door. About the same distance, I kicked it in my dream. A wild hope filled me. 

_“Ok then Jae-Ha, let's try something,”_ I thought standing up. I closed my eyes picturing Shu-Ten’s movements. 

“HIYA,” I screamed. Swinging my leg still no higher than in my dream. 

I tried again “HiYa!” I yelled. Gaining a little bit of height. “Hiyay, Haya,” I yelled over and over as I practiced kicking my leg. I then started bouncing on it. Just little motions, trying to create as much lift and spring as my chains would allow. Which was not much. 

I got carried away and jumped so high that the metal bit deep into my wrists. Yanking me down on the floor sending shockwaves up my spine. I bit my lip trying to keep from screaming as blood started welling up on them. Oww, that hurt. 

I sat there dazed as my door opened. 

“What the hell is going on here,” Garou yelled. Seeing me slumped in a corner breathing heavy, panting covered in sweat. My wrists and ankles soaked in my own blood and some coming from my mouth after I bit my cheek. 

I shut my eyes expecting to be yelled at, but instead, weirdly enough Garou just looked at me. 

“Jae-Ha,” he said softly. I looked up meeting his eyes. The light in my eyes stifled from the shock of my fall. 

He facepalmed, a similar gesture to the man from my dream. 

“Uhhg fine,” he muttered. Leaving me alone before he returned with bandages and water. Without a word, he undid one of the chains on my wrists. He knew better than to undo them all at once. Even if I looked week, I had tried to escape by hurting myself before, but that hadn't worked too well. I injured myself too greatly to get away that time. 

Gentler than I would have thought possible, he took my arm and started wiping away the blood and wrapping it in a bandage. We sat in silence for the longest time. One at a time he unlocked each chain and bandaged it before I was trapped back in them. He got to my dragon's leg hesitating before he unlocked the shackle. 

My leg twitched as if sensing the freedom that was so close and so far out of reach at the same time. Before Garou slammed his own leg on top of mine, leaving me unable to squirm free. I was still a young dragon nowhere near his level. If I couldn't at least match him how could I escape? 

“Jae-Ha…you've got to stop this,” he said softly. I looked away. He finished wrapping my ankle. 

“You have to stop trying to run away. You’re never going to escape. You're just hurting yourself,” he said. 

I bit my lip shutting my eyes. As my heart raced pounding louder than a drum in my chest. 

Garou clicked the shackle closed around my leg. The click was deafening accompanied by the words “You need to just give up.” 

I almost felt like my head was swimming. Was this what being underwater felt like, weightless and heavy at the same time, unsteady as if you had no form. 

“Trust me. You'll be happier if you just give up,” Garou said softly. “There’s nothing for us on the other side. We all dream of it. Every single green dragon has dreamed of the blue sky, begging us to leap into it. But that's just a dream. The real world is cruel and it's not what you, what we think it is. 

Our life is meaningless. If you go then ..then you're probably thought of as dead, and then the village will produce a new green dragon and your power will fade. Theres no happiness outside. This life is meaningless but outside is even more meaningless,” he said. 

My eyes were shut so tight I was seeing stars behind my closed lids. No that couldn't be true that didn't make any sense. If a new dragon was born when one left the village then how were we supposed to leave with Hiryuu. That sounded like a tale that the elders would tell to keep us contained. I refused to believe it. 

“Jae-Ha,” Garou said. Gently lifting my chin wiping away the blood on my cheek. “When are you going to stop trying to escape,” he said. “After all this pain Jae-Ha, are you still insisting that you want to leave the village?”

I looked away trying to hide the rebellion in my eyes. Never, I had to escape I had to be free. I was never going to give up, especially when I had Shu-Ten training me. 

“Come on Jae-Ha it gets easier if you give up. Maybe you can even convince the elder to let you be outside for a bit, or even meet your own parents if your good,” he said. 

“Is that what you did. Just sit docile waiting for a king that was never going to come. Did the elder let you out? Let you meet your parents?” I said. Garou stiffened.

“No that's not... But I was hoping that you could be better than me,” he said. “And you still haven't learned. Over and over how many times do I have to prove to you that this is futile. That there is no escaping, that there is no place for us.” He yelled. 

I hunched my shoulders up around my neck. “I don't care Garou. I need…”

“What you need is discipline” he cut me off. I rolled my eyes.

“I think I get enough of that warden,” I said. Knowing immediately I crossed a line. But at the moment I didn't care. Garou slammed his leg on the ground sending cracks in the stone. 

“Garou or master. How many times do I need to tell you, the successor calls the predecessor master. I’m shown enough disrespect from the others, I won't have it from you,” he snapped. Anger burned within me, under Garou's hate filled eyes.

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want from me. To just sit here like a stone as if I wasn't alive. Living my whole life as a pawn in someone else's promise, in someone else's dream. That one day Hiryuu will come back, well that's not me, that's not what I want. I’m me, Jae-Ha. So of course master,” I let that last word drip with sarcasm. 

“Nothing can keep me here I’m going to escape. Staying here locked up waiting for Hiryuu forever, that's the elder's dream, not mine. Don't tell me it was your dream, your vision. My life is my own and I’ll…” 

Garou slapped me, his previous kindness disappeared. 

“Then your doomed. You will live out your whole life chained in this hole until you die, you ungrateful bastard. Hiryuu is the only hope we have and you dare throw that away,” he yelled. Storming outside slamming the door leaving me again in the darkness. 

My heart raced, anger blazed within me. A fury I had almost never known. 

“Arrrrrggg.” I screamed thrusting my hands against my chains. Blood started seeping through the bandages, but this time, no one came. I screamed kicked and yanked on my chains in vain. They yielded nothing but bigger bruises and more bloodstains before I sat back panting. 

It wasn't in vain I was going to escape, I had to. My heart raced and my breathing closed up in my chest, at the idea that I would be forever trapped in this dark place never escaping this nightmare. 

No, as much as I felt the crushing weight. The doubts in the back of my mind that Garou was right. I couldn't let that happen, I had to make my own destiny no matter what it took. 

I clenched my fist, I had to. I absentmindedly started rubbing my leg. As if touching it could bring more power to it. Remembering Shu-Ten’s words. I stretched out my leg trying to stretch it as far as it could go, bending over trying to touch my toes while sitting. I couldn’t, I could only reach my ankle. 

I gritted my teeth, frustrated but having nothing better to do, I kept stretching, before switching to my other leg. Knowing my flexibility would be better if both legs could be super flexible. It would give me more range of motion for my dragon leg. 

I then tried to kick as high again. I pushed my leg against the wall as high as I could go, which wasn't too high, trying to keep my leg straight. I did this all day as if desperately stretching could make me strong enough to escape. 

All the while, I kept repeating over and over to myself that this wasn't in vain, I wasn't going to be like the others who had never escaped. I was going to, I had to, I couldn't stay here, I refused to. 

Everything that Garou told me, everything that I learned about. Everyone and everything that told me, had to be wrong. Or even if they were right, then I wanted to be wrong. I didn't care what I had to do, make me a villain, paint me as the bad guy. Was it really so wrong to want to live my own life. 

Dragons.. destiny I didn't care about any of it. I’m going to run away. That was my solemn vow I made as a child. A childish threat to run away. At the time Garou laughed it off as childish, a five-year-old threatening to run away. No one thought I was serious, but I was. And I held thous words close to my heart, repeating them whenever I felt hopeless “I’m going to escape. I’m going to run away.” 

How could living outside be worse than this prison I lived in. Even if it was cold and wet and I went hungry, I would be outside in the sky. I could find other food, I could do something. I could make it, I had to. There had to be more to life than this, there just had to be. 

When I collapsed asleep, huddled in my cloak, I dreamt of Shu-Ten again. All night he trained me to kick with my leg. All night we worked on jumping higher and higher. I didn't have to worry about the chains yanking me down in my dream, I could really test out my power and see how far I had to go. It was going to be a long time before I got anywhere near Shu-Ten’s level. But that didn't stop me from trying, all night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I had so much fun with this one! I thought it would be fun to see Shu-Ten’s response to Zeno’s rhetorical question. Writing for Shu-Ten was so much fun! He’s obnoxious and wild. Good luck world, Jae-Ha now has a way to start practicing his power.


	5. A Dragons Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training and a time skip. Jumping to chapter 99.1 (Jae-Ha’s backstory bonus chapter)

For three years I worked tirelessly. Every night I trained with Shu-Ten. I learned how to strengthen my dragon's leg, how to be more flexible, correct forms for kicking, how to kick with the most force, how to jump, how to be a spring always coiled, and how to land, something that I overlooked. 

“Jumping’s the easy part. But only your legs can take the force of the jump, the rest of you is human. So you have to take the leaps from your legs. If you bellyflop you’re gonna get badly hurt,” he said.

“You’re greatest strength is your mobility. You're the green dragon, the soaring dragon. The white dragon is perhaps the strongest, the blue dragon the most observant, the yellow is the sturdiest, but you're the quickest. Use that,” Shu-Ten told me. 

And finally, he taught me how to fight. One night when I was eleven, he finally grabbed his spear and told me to fight him using every kick and jump I knew. 

I had more fun than I had ever remembered. I got a huge grin on my face whenever we sparred. And I think Shu-Ten was having fun too. 

“Keep your distance. Get close enough to strike and leap away before they can retaliate,” he yelled jumping back. “Hit and run,” he said vaulting off his spear kicking with his leg. “Strike hard and fast,” he told me, sending me flying with his spear shaft. 

Landing on my feet, I wiped the blood tricking from my mouth and lunched for him. Striking out with my dragon's leg. He whirled around grabbing my human leg smirking as he held me upside-down. 

“And remember you only have one dragon leg, but don't let your human leg fall behind.” Before he set me back on the ground holding out his hand. “Now come on kid. Show me what you got,” he called.

He beat me soundly over and over again, but I got better. Shu-Ten really was a monster. His dragon leg was inhumanly strong and he used it in tandem with his spear making for a lethal combo. It was all I could do to keep track of his motions, much less keep up. 

But with every bruise, every kick, every block, every strike, I got better. Every night I spent training, every day I spent stretching, every morning Garou would find me covered in sweat and bruises, and every day I got better and better. 

Garou started to lose his patience with me even more. The balance between when he was kind to me, and when he took out his frustrations on me was lost. As he lost himself more and more to rage. Scaring me, and even as I felt the desirer to hate him, I knew deep down that this only further fueled me to not only escape, but to not hold a grudge. 

I don't think I would ever heal from this place. I think I would always be afraid of losing my freedom. I think I would always hate chains, and maybe even the dark or small spaces. But I wouldn't let them make me hate everyone. I wouldn't lose myself to revenge, that that wasn't who I wanted to become. 

I wondered if it was because I was being more disrespectful to Garou, because I was taking more power, or both. Every night I practiced with Shu-Ten, I felt like I was absorbing more and more power. Like I had been absorbing power slowly and then all of a sudden a dam within me burst open. That night I had the worst nightmare of my life, when Garou and I had watched the stars. It was as if that star triggered my power to accelerate, both I and Garou noticed. 

I never stopped trying to escape. My escape attempts became almost daily, as I got better and better at slipping out of chains. Never truly breaking them, only slipping out. And every day Garou was forced to chase me. 

I never made it out of the village, I never made it out of the small hut that was my prison before I heard the villagers yell for Garou.  
And every day he would chase me down.

I started finally fighting back, using the moves Shu-Ten taught me instead of quietly taking the beatings. Garou was at first surprised, but then his rage at me only got worse when he saw me trying to use my leg to defend myself.

Seeing that his normal tactics weren't working, he tried appealing to my insecurities. Telling me that my leg looked creepy like a monster's. That no matter where I went if people found out about my powers then they wouldn't accept me, that they would reject me. That a selfish green dragon who wanted freedom like me, once left the village. And people who wanted the power of the dragons for themselves came and killed everyone. Ever since, the dragons had been chained. 

I knew that couldn't be the whole story, or I hoped it wasn’t. But sensing the weakness Garou started picking on me for my leg, saying it was weird and ugly. Something I had always been self-conscious about. He was praying on my insecurities. And as much as Shu-Ten told me it was a gift when I was trapped here because of it. It was a little hard to believe and accept. 

So I tried to ignore it, if I had to hide my powers then fine. I would have to learn to hide my presence too, considering that supposedly the dragon warriors shared a blood tie. And thinking back I could always sorta sense that the white and blue dragon were out there somewhere far away. 

The villagers started carrying bows with them everywhere, trying to shoot me if Garou couldn't make it in time to catch me. He always did. I could never be sure if he wanted the glory of capturing me himself, or if he was trying to protect me from getting skewered. But I suppose I would never know.

One day it got really bad, I was twelve and feeling especially restless. I felt like today was the day, my leg tingled like nothing it had ever done before. It had to be the day I escaped. I didn't think my leg could get any more powerful, as I kicked my chains I had been struggling with them for days before my strike finally dented the metal enough to bend it and let me slip out of them. 

I bolted running as fast as I could, my hair flying behind me I just had to get enough speed up. _“Come on Jae-Ha just a litter farther,”_ I thought desperately even as I heard the voices yelling. 

“He's out.” 

“He's escaping.” 

“Garou hurry, Jae-Ha’s taking to the sky again.” 

I gritted my teeth. This was a casual game for them to watch. Let's watch the poor little green dragon try to fly and fail, how fun.

To Garou this was a matter of pride, I was being more and more rebellious. Causing more and more trouble as every day I attempted to escape. He had gone from kind to infuriated. He was so lost in pain and vengeance that he no longer remember what it was like to long for the sky. And for me, it was life or death. I had to get out of here before it was to late. 

I coiled myself just like Shu-Ten had taught me, reaching for the sky, jumping. Feeling the wind on my face as I was surrounded in blue. My heart soared with exhilaration, was this finally the day. 

But as usual, Garou jumped right after me, a cold expression on his face. He was angry, angrier than normal as he grabbed my leg dragging both of us down to earth. I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me unable to move gasping for breath that wasn't there. 

The villagers cheered for Garou. Taunting me while he dragged me back to my cell. Slamming me against the wall snapping my hands and legs roughly back into their shackles. _Damn it, I had been so close._

“I am getting so sick of this. Aren't you tired of this Jae-Ha. For the love of Hiryuu, why can’t you stay put,” he yelled. I narrowed my eyes. 

“Keeping the green dragon on the ground is something no one can do,” I muttered. Remembering the words that I held close to my heart since the dream. 

“What was that kid,” Garou yelled. But I had finally had enough. Twelve long years of being silent, of trying not to aggravate him, of trying to be sorta good, or at least enough to avoid a beating. Well, I had trained with Shu-Ten for three years now. I felt more power than I ever had in my dragon's leg. I was done.

I felt adrenaline and anger blaze within me like it never had before, my patience for this charade was over. I was probably going to say something I regretted, but I just couldn't stop myself. I had been so close was I ever going to get closer.

I had pretty much all the power I could have how much more powerful could my leg get. I had training, I knew how to fight with it, I knew how to use it. I had learned everything I could from Shu-Ten, I had learned all I could from this horrible place. I needed to move on and I was never going to be more ready. 

I felt my leg tingle sending shockwaves up my spine, I felt restless like I needed to run. But then out of nowhere, absolute stillness in my leg. I was winded and tired. The raging blood in my leg going quiet. And that drop in power was enough for despair to strike me. How long was I going to have to try over and over again only to fail.

“Hey predecessor when are you going to die,” I asked. Regretting instantly how cold I sounded while saying it, but not the question itself. 

Instantly Garou was on me grabbing my face, I gulped.

“You're horrible,” he growled. “Are you saying I should just die Jae-Ha,” he said in a low controlled voice. The voice he used right before he beat the crap out of me. I gulped I shouldn't have said that, I just wanted to be free but I should have stayed quiet, I shouldn't have spoken I just made it worse. Because now Garou was on a tangent. 

“You’re birth meant that my life was drastically shortened it's a cruel reality,” he started. The same lecture I had heard a thousand times. I should have just let him yell at me, nodded numbly and be done with it, but I was too fed up with everything myself. The villagers dared to think this was a game for their entertainment, not my own life.

“Shortened, HA! Usually when a new green dragon is born the predecessor dies within three or four years,” I screamed desperately. 

“I'm twelve already why don't you just retire,” I screamed. Please why couldn't you just retire, you didn't have to die if you would just let me leave. 

My predecessor was my father figure since green dragons were never allowed to meet their parents. A real father would stand aside, at least ignore me, pretend to see nothing. A better father would pack me a bag and help me, or even come with me. 

“Every time I cut my chains and take to the sky you drag me back done to the ground.” _“To keep the green dragon on the ground that's something no one can do.”_

My anger blazed, I couldn't stop. For years I had let this pent-up frustration simmer, trying to not focus on it. Ignoring the pain I was in, and now it was all coming to the surface. I guess feelings could only be ignored for so long. 

“For how many years,” I screamed. Exactly when had I first started trying to escape when I was five, four, six … 

“How many times.” What had been only a few rare times, had become yearly monthly, weekly, daily attempts. 

_Stop Jae-Ha, before you say something in your anger you'll regret,_ a tiny voice in the back of my mind yelled. But I couldn't keep my emotions in check any longer. I couldn't hide or bush off my frustration anymore. I had been so close to the sky where I belonged. 

“If you weren't around…” I said pushing up against Garou as he stared at me. I swung my leg in the roundhouse kick that Shu-Ten had taught me. “I would be free now.” The words stung in my throat. Tears of rage and sorrow and longing burned in my eyes. I had been so close. The word free at the tip of my tongue, so close I could taste the sweetness of the sky. 

But Garou brought his own leg up slamming it against mine, sending shockwaves down it. 

_“Ow, ow, ow,”_ I thought to myself. He was still dominate in power, how! After so many years, how was he still more powerful than me? Why couldn't he just retire and be done with it? How long was I supposed to live in his shadow, unable to be free? 

“Free,” he said dangerously calm. 

I knew I was in trouble. That calm voice was enough to snap me out of my anger. I shouldn't be throwing a temper tantrum when he was calm. That was asking for trouble. He suddenly grabbed my foot yanking my shoe off, knocking me off balance. 

“Hey,” I yelled. I fell slammed on my back to the ground.

He held my dragon leg up revealing the scales beneath my pant leg, staring at it. Making sure I got a good look at my own leg before pinning me to the floor. 

“You're not too bright, are you. No one out there will accept you when your legs like this,” he said. 

I hesitated grimacing, shutting one eye as I bit my lip. Here it was again the same argument I had heard over and over but was it true. I didn't want it to be, but my leg …my insecurity about it was one more thing Garou had more power over me. 

“This creepy leg, with its monstrous green scales. Even our own people act like we're diseased,” Garou yelled. His eyes growing wild and maniacal. “If you left, you would have nowhere to go you little idiot,” he yelled. 

I gulped trying to restrain my anger. It wasn't beautiful to be angry, I didn't want that. My leg may look like a monster but I didn't have to act like one, and as long as I remembered that then I wouldn't ever be one, right. 

Garou stared at me, taunting me, expecting me to rise to the bait and to fight him again like I had before. But I knew when I was beat pined on the floor with him holding my main weapon, I couldn't do much. 

“All I have here is this prison,” I said. 

There wasn't anything here for me or any other green dragon. Unable to make friends, unable to form any ties here to the people or land. There was nothing here. We could have been born anywhere, There was nothing tying us to this place. Except that this was a village of decedents of the green dragon. 

Garou released me. “Do you think I’m going to feel bad for you,” he yelled.

I knew what the look on his face meant. For once he didn't say it, but I knew what it meant. That he had no sympathy for me, this was just the fate of every green dragon. Well then I hadn't played this card often, but if this was the fate of every green dragon ….

“Before I was born, you were chained up in here. Weren't you,” I said. 

Garou hesitated at the door. I knew it. I had never asked him before, I had only suspected. But everything made sense. Why hadn't I thought of it before. If a rogue green dragon let outsiders hurt the village, then they chained up every green dragon ever since in this stupid room to rot. Before it was my prison it was Garou’s. Before it was his, it was his predecessors. And so on and so on. This cursed room was filled with centuries of green dragons, all begging for the sky, all trapped. 

My heart hurt thinking about others, feeling the same agonizing pain I was feeling right now, that I had felt forever. 

“Didn't you ever want to leave,” I asked. My voice almost cracking. Didn't Garou ever want to soar in the sky, to escape? If the green dragons were meant to soar, well didn't he also want to. He had to. And if he did, they why hadn't he tried to run away, why wouldn't he let me. Unless he had and it had gone baldy, and keeping me here was a form of revenge for him...

He turned around slowly “Torturing you makes me feel like I’ll live another hundred years. I hope you keep suffering,” he said slamming the door. 

Once again I was left in the dark. As always when alone I let loose some of my anger and frustration by slamming my wrists against my chains. But I had let out too much of my frustration earlier with Garou that my heart really wasn't in it. 

Even as the storm of emotions swirled within me, even as I pulled so hard that I reopened my wrist wounds. Even as blood pooled down my sleeves I felt nothing, I just felt tired. Even my leg started to feel numb and quiet. It’s tingling and burning finally subsiding, going completely still.

I sighed slumping back down. Was this really pointless? It seemed like Garou would always have more power than I did. Our relationship was deteriorating at a rapid pace. More and more he was downright mean to me, if not straight-up abusive. Even if he was feeling pressed to keep living, and hanging on. It wasn't an excuse to take it out on me. So life could suck and was hard and unfair, he didn't need to take it out on me. 

He also was a green dragon. If green dragons weren't meant to be kept on the ground, then why couldn't he have escaped. Why couldn't we have escaped together, why couldn't Garou have taken me as a child and ran, why couldn't we be free? If Garou wasn't willing to leave, if he wasn't here, if he retired, if he wanted to break the rules and follow his own heart instead of believing the lies we had been told, then I would be free now. 

Maybe it wasn't the lies we were told. Maybe the outside world was hard and cruel, maybe no one would accept us with our dragon legs. But even if they did, I had to escape. I had to be free. I shut my eyes tears forming in them as I tried to calm myself down. 

Tomorrow was another day, another chance to escape. Maybe I was being hasty. Maybe there was still more I had to learn from Shu-Ten before I could get out of here. 

I tried pulling on my chains shaking them violently. Maybe it was just my imagination but I thought I felt them move a bit. But then they didn’t. 

Something felt weird. My leg was acting strange. After that initial power boost I had when I tried to escape earlier, my leg almost felt dead. As if it wasn't tingling. After so long it was quiet like I was losing power. 

Was that even possible? Could Garou have held on to the green dragon’s power so long that he was gaining my own power and I was about to die, losing my power? 

I leaned over rubbing my leg. Something was definitely wrong with it, really wrong. My heart rate sped up as panic surged through me. What was happening to me, I didn't understand. How could my leg feel weaker. Something was very wrong and I was scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :) This chapter was fun and tricky because I wanted to not break the cannon (to much) while at the same time staying true to my voice and writing style. I'm happy with what I came up with. And I really liked playing with Jae-Ha's internal monologue and thought process.
> 
> Fun fact, the part about Jae-Ha learning to land bothers me...A lot! I’ve rewatched the anime, and re-read the manga searching for evidence if Jae-Ha’s left leg can take the force of landing. And I couldn't find anything. So I settled for both legs can take the force. But I’m not happy with that answer, because I don't know for certain. Ahhhrrrgg! Welcome to the real hell of writing, sometimes it's not the plot or the characters that's the problem. It's the stupid little things that aren't supposed to be issues, until you write it and then are like, “Wait is that how this thing works?” And then you go on a deep dive online trying to research a very specific thing, only to come up empty, so you just make something up. Ok tangent over.


	6. A Dragons Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jae-Ha finally gets his powers with a little help from his family.

I don't know how I managed to fall asleep that night, but I did. Once again I was standing in the clear blue field where Shu-Ten and I trained. Except Shu-Ten wasn't there. 

I started kicking, practicing my moves. I jumped, crouching low to the ground before kicking out. Leaping for the sky where I kicked out in all directions, landing, coiling myself and leaping again. Funny, my leg felt fine here. Better than normal even. 

I heard footsteps and clapping. I turned around startled to hear a voice that wasn't Shu-Ten’s.

“Wow you’re so cool.” 

Standing there watching me was a young boy with white hair, dressed in fancy white and blue robes. He ran forward, a second small boy trailing shyly behind him with blue hair and a mask on his face. Bells tied around one of the ears. He was dressed in rough simple clothes. 

Behind both of them were two older men. One reached out for the white-haired boy, dressed in furs with similar white hair, as he reached for the child I saw his arm… was covered in scales. I took a step back, the white dragon …I gulped. 

The boy ran towards me tackling me in a hug. 

“I can’t believe how strong you are that's so cool,” he said.

I stood their stunned, not knowing what to say my heart racing …exactly what was going on here. Why was the white dragon here…Wait no, the boy, his arm was also covered in scales, two white dragons …

The second smaller boy trailing behind the first suddenly lost his nerve and ran away, crying. “Abi.” He hid behind the second man sniffling. 

I glanced up seeing who the little boy was hiding behind. He was a tall man with little red marks under his eyes, hidden by a bandage that covered his face. Blue hair partly tied in a bun. He bent down whispering to the small boy who clutched him nervously. 

And behind them was a man smiling a warm gentle smile, like an old man seeing his grandchildren, or something like long lost family finally come together. He had yellow hair, dressed in orange with a golden medallion around his head. I squinted at him, I felt like I had met him before somewhere. But I couldn't place it. 

“Look, look, I can use my power too, watch this,” the small white dragon said. As he made his arm grow bigger he smiled. 

Seeing the white dragons bravery the smaller boy stepped out from the blue-haired man's shadow. “Uh hi,” he muttered. Waving shyly to me. 

The man in blue hair bent down, whispering in his ear again. The boy gulped nodding before lifting his mask, just for a moment. The bells chimed as he lifted it off revealing the most beautiful golden eyes I had ever seen. Wait a minute…

White dragon, blue hair …with haunting beautiful eyes… A yellow-haired man. 

The lessons I had learned my whole life started playing in my mind. One gained claws that could tear apart anything. One gained eyes that could see across great distance. One a sturdy body that could never be injured.. And one…

I gulped, backing away, feeling my leg go numb. As if the tingling had stopped. Becoming hyper aware of every nerve surrounding it. 

And one gained legs that could jump high in the sky. I was surrounded by the dragon warriors. 

White dragon child, a blue dragon child, their predecessors and that must be the yellow dragon predecessor over there, watching us. Why wasn't there another little yellow dragon? Maybe he hadn't been born yet, but somehow that didn't feel right. My heart pounded why were they here. Was I going to lose my power? Was I about to die? 

I stepped back again, my back pressed against someone who wasn't there two seconds ago. 

“There you are. What took you so long?” the familiar voice said. I looked up seeing Shu-Ten. 

“Shu-Ten,” I said relieved. Even as fear started taking it’s place. “What's going on? Why are all the dragon here with their predecessors. Why…” I stammered. 

Shu-Ten started laughing, he bent over laughing hard. 

“Hear that Gu-En, predecessors.” he laughed. The white dragon predecessor shrugged. 

“I don't see why your laughing that sounds just like the conclusions you liked to jump to,” he said. 

Shu-Ten smiled showing his sharp teeth. 

“You're just upset because we never got to settle the score before you died,” he said. 

The white dragon predecessor ran up gripping Shu-Ten by his tunic collar. 

“You wanna say that again. You died before I did,” he snapped. 

“I did not,” Shu-Ten augured. 

“Zeno remembers, you all died around the same time,” said the yellow man. Who had been sitting back but now walked forward standing beside the blue dragon predecessor who nodded. 

“It is an easy mistake to make,” he said. 

Shu-Ten rolled his eyes glancing back to me. 

“Oh come on kid. I’ve trained you for three years in your time now. You have to know who we are ..Who I am at least. The others…” he pointed to them with his spear laughing letting the thought trail off.

I gulped, I had known all along who he was. I had just never thought about it too much. But there really could only be one person who knew exactly how to train a green dragon, who knew how to use this power I had, who could teach me to fly. 

“You're the green dragon,” I said. “The first green dragon,” I corrected. As Shu-Ten nodded. 

“See, my kid figured it out before yours did,” he said pointing to me, facing Gu-En who scoffed. 

“Kija is way smarter than yours. At least he knew who Zeno was.” Shu-Ten slammed his head against Gu-En’s 

“That doesn't count Jae-Ha was asleep” Shu-Ten complained. 

Gu-En pressed his forehead back against Shu-Ten’s trying to knock Shu-Ten off balance. 

“Kija knew, yours didn’t even though he's older,” he said 

“Actually mine figured out who Zeno was first,” the blue dragon predecessor said, as he and yellow gently separated the two bickering dragons holding them back.

Wait a minute then did that mean … 

“Wait are you all the first dragons,” I said my mouth hanging open. What the hell, did I hit my head too hard when Garou dragged me back to the ground. Was the elder giving me hallucinogenics now to trick me or something. There was no way that the original four dragons were here.

“We’re all real young one,” said the first blue dragon. He bent down to meet me on eye-level even as he had his own eyes covered in bandages “I am known as Abi. For now, you still sleep. But you will soon awaken,” he said softly. 

“What do you mean,” I said gulping. Feeling that somehow he didn't mean I was going to wake up to a new morning. Shu-Ten rubbed his neck glancing to the yellow dragon. 

“Yeah well fine. You were right. I should have done something about this ages ago. I can’t believe I was so negligent,” he muttered. The white dragon, Gu-En snorted. 

“Have you seen how scatterbrained you are Mr I go where the wind takes me. You would be the one out of all of us to neglect your children,” he said. 

“Oh like you’re better,” Shu-Ten said rolling his eyes. 

“I am better they're worshiped in my village,” Gu-En said. 

“Oh like that's a healthy childhood,” Shu-Ten snapped. 

“Now, now, don't fight. Zeno doesn't like it when you fight,” the yellow dragon said. 

“We know mother,” Shu-Ten snapped. But I didn't really think he was mad. The blue dragon predecessor Abi, looked down tears falling from his hidden eyes. 

“I wish I could have done something to ease the pain of my children. But it's not physical chains that hold their hearts. Escape alone won’t help them ..” he said softly. 

“But it will for mine,” Shu-Ten said. Walking over to me “You ready kid,” he said I looked up. Ready, for what? He couldn't mean …my heart pounded. 

“But I ..” I stammered. 

“No buts, this is the same mistake every green dragon has made,” Shu-Ten shouted. “They look back, they say what if, they doubt themselves, their place and power. Don't tell me you're going to give in to their doubts and live out your life the way they want you to,” he yelled.

I looked down shaking my head gritting my teeth “No but …” 

“Then what,” Shu-Ten snapped. 

“My leg…” I hesitated. “I think it's losing power. I can’t feel anything in it and I ..” I stammered. 

The little white dragon, Kija looked stunned. He gulped walking over showing his hand. 

“You feel like all the powers gone, right. Like it's normal. It feels just like your human side, even though it looks scaly,” he said. I nodded, that was exactly how I felt. 

“Or uhh…like theres something on the horizon. A storm that looks far away even though it's so close that you can feel the pressure in the air drop,” the little blue dragon said softly. 

I nodded. He too covered his mouth gulping. I felt my legs start to shake. 

“Uh exactly what's going on. Why do you seem to know exactly how I feel,” I stammered. 

“Because that's what it feels like just before your power awakens. Like the calm before the storm, it feels like all your power is lost right before you gain everything,” a new voice said. 

I looked up screaming as I saw the red light that could only mean one thing, Hiryuu. My power ..he was coming to awaken it and steal me. I crouched ready to run. But somehow even as sweat trickled down my brow I couldn't bring myself to run.

My heart pounded, but it was like my legs so light and powerful were made of led. Was this the chain that Hiryuu was going to place on me, had I made a mistake? Did I underestimated the bond the dragons had with Hiryuu. The bond that my blood carried. 

I shut my eyes, adrenalin pulsed through me as the red light solidified into a man. I shivered, shaking, trembling on my small legs, collapsing to my knees as the man walked towards me. Flowing red hair blocking out his face. This was the man who was going to chain me down, this was the man that was going to command me to use my power for him, to die in his place. 

A soft warm light much like the sun at sunset enveloped me. I felt his hands cup my face bringing it up to meet his eyes. 

“Don't be afraid child,” he said softly. I opened my eyes seeing his own, they were soft and gentle. His face a warriors, but softer than I thought. He wore no crown or jewelry. 

Was this really the king I had been running from, he looked like a father …not a monster. He smiled at me as I shivered, feeling my dragon's blood call out to him. Even as I knew it wasn't my feelings, it was my dragon's blood. The blood of the green dragon that flowed through me. It wasn't my wishes, I didn't want this. The man smiled softly. 

“It's alright, your not a prisoner to your lineage. Your life..” he said. 

My heart started pounding holding on to his every word as if I needed to hear this from him and no one else. 

“..Is your own. Live freely little dragon,” he finished.

He looked up. “My time ..our time is over. We made our story and legends. Now ..” He hesitated as he pulled the other two little dragons next to me, in a group hug. 

“Now it's your turn,” he said to the three of us. 

He placed his hand on the white dragons shoulder “Kija, white dragon. I need you to stay strong. Always remember where your strength comes from, the bonds you share with your brothers. Remember this and you'll never be alone,” he said to the little white dragon. Who nodded clenching his fist, his blue eyes filled with determination. 

“..And my purpose,” the white dragon asked hesitantly. 

“Will reveal itself in time. Trust your blood and be patient,” Hiryuu whispered.

He turned to the dragon next to me. “Little one, blue dragon. Your powers are not a curse don't ever forget that. They can and will be used to help others. Power is power. Good and evil come from the heart that's wielding it,” he said. Gently touching the blue dragon's heart. 

“Really …promise..?” the blue dragon asked. Hiryuu nodded. 

“Promise,” he said. Before he turned to me. I gulped shivers flying down my spine and leg. 

“Jae-Ha, green dragon,” he said.

I gulped wanting to step away. I felt like my body and mind were at war with each other. My mind knew that this was dangerous, that I should flee. But my heart and body refused to listen, drawn to his calm, soothing presence. He could tell me I would forever be chained and I would say yes. This power he had over me terrified me. I winced shutting my eyes but unable to pull away. Knowing and fearing the words of servitude before he spoke them.

“Your dragon's blood is part of you. Both your own heart and dragons blood flow within you. Working together as your whole being. Don't ever neglect one for the other. That goes for both your human heart longing for freedom and the draconic power in your leg.” 

He rubbed my head. “Follow your heart little dragon. Follow your heart and you'll end up where you need to be, where you want to be for your own hearts yearning,” he said.

What? That was not what I was expecting …Don't neglect my human heart, my heart that yearned for freedom…Not do what I say and you're forever my servant.

Before he looking up beyond us. “As for you..” he said right before the yellow dragon tackled all of us from behind in a giant group hug. 

“Zeno knows,” he said cheerfully. “Zeno will watch over them, always,” he finished softly and sadly. Hiryuu nodded. 

“Thanks friend,” Hiryuu said in barely a whisper. “Our time is over, now it’s your time. We hand the reins over to you as the last of you finally gains your powers,” Hiryuu said. 

As he said that I saw a flicker of light behind him like a sun casting Hiryuu in shadow, a light like the star that I saw years ago. I gasped feeling the fluttering in my heart. 

It was only there for a moment, a glimpse of a young girl with blazing red hair and a cheerful innocent smile. 

“Our light of fire has been born again after two centuries, but whether it truly becomes alight or not is up to herself,” Zeno said. 

Abi nodded. “I think she will,” he said. 

Gu-En clenched his fist. “A heart of fire dwells in that one for sure.” 

“After two centuries she’s finally here,” Shu-Ten said. 

“What light of fire,” Kija said. 

“Hiryuu?” the little blue one said. 

Zeno and Hiryuu only smiled gently and knowingly. 

“Alright kid we've stalled long enough. Get over here,” Shu-Ten said. 

I ran to his side as Kija and the blue dragon ran back to their predecessors. Zeno remained standing alone by Hiryuu’s side. That was weird where was his successor, didn't they just say last of us who gains full power. 

Shu-Ten got a wide toothy grin on his face. “You ready to get out of here,” he said. I nodded Shu-Ten placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Hiryuu’s right Jae-Ha, always follow your heart. I took the dragon's blood because I wanted the strength to alter my destiny. I wanted to do whatever I wanted. Siding with a dethroned king who everyone hated in exchange for powers no one else had sounded like a great way to tell my family, friends, and everyone in my village that they were wrong about me. That they couldn't tell me what to do or who to be. 

Our power is the soaring legs of a dragon, we were created to change fate, to slip out of its grasp to fly higher, unchained to the physical ground and expectations of what people think we're supposed to be, the unexpected. That power, my power is now yours,” Shu-Ten said. 

The moment the words left his mouth I felt a rush of power. I collapsed to my legs screaming in shock. My leg pulsed, I felt my blood rushing becoming hot, as surges of power emanated through me. My leg pulsed once, twice, again. 

I grabbed it, feeling like it was being torn apart. Was I really losing my power? But then what had all this been, a fever dream to send me off to the afterlife.

No, even as my leg pulsed it wasn't painful. Shocking yes, painful no. It felt like, I don't know how to describe it. Like all my life I had a cold and I had learned to live with the symptoms of a runny nose, stuffed up head and sore throat. They weren't comfortable, but I had accepted the pain and weight as if it was normal. And suddenly they were gone. I had healed, suddenly realized what it was like to have a healthy body. 

My leg felt so light, my whole body felt light. Lighter than it should have, but powerful. I could kick a hole in the wall if I wanted to. So much power coursing through my veins, in that instant I knew. 

All the power that was the green dragon's heritage, everything was now mine. Shu-Ten walked over the join the other older dragons, the first warriors. 

“Good luck kid. Get the hell out of there and fly,” he called to me. I felt weightless like even without jumping I was floating to the sky. The little ones ran forward waving 

“Let's meet again brother,” Kija said. The small blue one nodded. and Zeno left his place with the older generation to stand by the kid's sides. 

“I’m glad to see you finally take to the sky,” he said. And I finally placed his voice. 

“Wait you’re the one who told me that no one can keep me grounded,” I said. He nodded. 

“That's right little Ryokuryuu. No one can keep you on the ground, now take to the skys,” he said waving. 

“Get going. Show them what you've got and finally be the first one to break their expectations. Get out of there,” Shu-Ten called.

As if knowing what to do, I leapt for the sky. Feeling freer than I ever had. Even if it was just a dream. A dream that I had a feeling I wouldn't remember the details when I woke up, it was the best feeling ever. 

But even as I felt happiness at my leap jumping with all my power the sky faded into darkness and I felt uneasy gulping. I felt an ominous presence looming over me. I shivered but couldn't stop myself from being drawn back to both the waking world and the threatening presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another of my favorite chapters! Fun fact I almost deleted this thinking it wasn't necessary. I mean by now I was covering events that we had already seen in the manga and this clearly wasn't there. But then I stopped, my finger hovering over the delete key and remembered what I was looking at, blatant fan service. And I was like "oh yeah its a fanfiction." The goal (for me at least) is to write a love letter to the cannon. And since this was super cute I was like yeah we're keeping this. I really love writing the original dragons interacting with the current holders. Maybe I should do an AU where they have to babysit them, that could be entertaining.


	7. A Dragons Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter. Jae-Ha’s long dream of escaping comes true he's finally free.

“Ngh,” I muttered. 

I opened my eyes slowly. Seeing a dark shadow out of the corner of my eye. I was groggy lulled into a false sense of security and peace from my dream. Taking too long to sense the bloodlust. Was it Hiryuu, the real one, not the one in my dream? 

“..Who,” I stammered right before the blows hit. I winced biting my cheek as I was punched over and over and over, hearing only fragments of the words. 

“Curse it! Curse it! Curse it!” in a voice I recognized, but had never heard so twisted with rage, so burdened with pain. 

But even as blood dripped down my face, I felt my leg pulse knowing what had happened. My dream was fading. For some reason I couldn't really remember what it had been about, only feelings. But I knew. 

My leg had finally gained all the power. I was no longer the successor, I was the green dragon. And Garou was about to die. 

He yelled and screamed differently than before when he was just angry. Maybe because I kept trying to escape while he never could, that his life was over without doing anything he ever wanted. 

All my rage was gone, vanished with my dream. All that was left was empathy. I knew what he was going through, I knew his pain it was the same pain I felt. Only worse because he never had gotten away. 

So I took the beating saying nothing, just looking at him with sorrow for him and every other green dragon before me, who hadn't achieved what I was about to. Who had all been doomed to live out their lives, worse than prisoners trapped forever in the dark. I just looked at him through squinted eyes sadly. 

And somehow that was enough, as Garou clutched my tunic collar he hesitated. A look of horror in his eyes. At whether what he was doing, my own eyes, or what he had become. I suppose I would never know. 

Immediately after he stopped, he sat back and started laughing a hollow laugh. But at least he was calmer now. 

I probably should just keep my mouth shut. For him to beat me up this bad he must be feeling desperate, feeling his own life force slipping away as his leg reverted from scales to human flesh. The exact thing I had come to fear for myself these last few days. All the suffering that we went through, the pain and anguish of being denied the very freedom that was embedded in our souls. It wasn't fair that we had to live like this. 

“Are you done?” I asked sitting back up. Even feeling bruised my body still felt light, that never happened after a beating. Garou was panting but his eyes had lost their maniacal look. They were softer than they had been since I was a small child, all thous years ago when he let me out of my chains to see the stars with a nightmare.

I gulped why couldn't you have stayed like that? Why couldn't we have escaped? Why did you let the villagers tell you what to do? 

Garou looked down. “How can that be enough. I want to kill you,” he said softly. 

But his words didn't match up with his eyes. He said he wanted to kill me, but he was resigned to his fate now, to his death. And my heart hurt for him. 

“I..hate you but…” I started. Unsure what I was even saying as my heart tried to bypass my mind and speak directly from its deepest depths. I clutched my chest above my heart. 

“When I hear you scream like that my heart feels like it will burst,” I said. Remembering all the pain I felt, how alone I felt, trapped by stupid destiny. And here was Garou doing everything the same.

“How …can you say that. Are you unbalanced from being hit too many times,” Garou muttered. 

No, I wasn’t. but I understood now that this pain, was the pain of all green dragons, unable to do the one thing we longed for, to fly.

Even as bruised as I was, I felt confidence stir within me. A feeling like hope but different fluttered in my chest …I think it was anticipation. All these long years I had been trying to escape, trying so hard only to be shoved back in chains. Well, this was it, this was my last night I would ever fall asleep in chains, I was excited.

Feeling more power than ever rush through my leg, this was my moment. This was it, this was the last time. Yesterday was the last time I would ever be kept on the ground. Wild excitement filled my heart as if having made my peace with Garou, I was finally ready to flee.

I almost couldn't believe it, my breath caught as I slowly raised my dragon's leg. Could I really do this? No, I was going to do this, I had all my power now. How could I have ever thought I had all my power before, that was only a drop in the bucket to the power I was to inherit. There was so much. I felt like I could jump for days and never get tired. It was exhilarating, I was never going to be cadged again.

I slammed my right leg on the ground creating a bigger dent in the ground than Garou ever had, shattering the chain around my ankle. I shattered my chains, not slipped out of them, not avoided them, not bent them, shattered them. This was it. Garou looked on in shock as I finally attempted what so many green dragons had wanted but never been able to do. 

I stood up, bringing my dragons leg up high before stomping down on the chain that held my other foot in place. The *krack* of shattering metal was the most satisfying sound I had ever heard in my life. The sounds of my chains not only being cut but shattered by my own power, this was my destiny. 

I felt Garou eyes watch on in awe as I shattered every chain that held me with my leg. The shackles were still around my arms and left leg, but the chains were shattered. I could move my limbs as freely as I wanted, I looked down at my arm at the severed chain still attached to the shackle, swinging gently with my motions instead of holding me down. 

I couldn't believe it. It felt so right and unreal at the same time. My breath quickened, I was both excited and calm at the same time as my heart pounded. I also knew that this was the last time I was ever going to be here. I wasn't nostalgic for my prison, but still the feeling that I could go at any time now comforted me. I didn't have to rush and bolt and leave anything unsaid. 

Still sitting Garou spoke up. 

“A..are you leaving,” he asked. Both a question and a threat. 

Did he really think that he could still threaten me, that he could still keep me down. I just looked at him sadly. I wish he would just accept it, just be on my side for once…

“You can’t come after me anymore,” I said. 

Seeing his face turn to shock, like the idea hadn't even been considered. Before he stood up on shaky legs that couldn't support his own weight. 

“Don't …mock me. There is life in me yet,” he stammered grunting. I could see the sweat pooling by his forehead from the effort it took to stand. It should be the other way around. Broken, bruised, and bloody I should be the one unsteady, not him. 

“Stoping you won’t..take any…effort,” he yelled. Swinging his leg in a kick. 

It was slow, so slow. Had his kicks always been slow, or was I just seeing his motions faster and sharper than ever before. Almost unconsciously I lifted my own leg up to block his. Hearing a loud crack the fading power in his leg couldn't compete with mine. It was like kicking a twig, I didn't know if I should be shocked or exhilarated at the power I felt, honestly it was a bit of both as Garou stumbled to the ground. 

He scrambled up to his feet, reaching for my leg like he had so many times before. But this time I pivoted, arching right out of reach as he fell to the floor. I didn't like seeing him like this. It was like I was looking at myself, struggling in vain to accomplish something I didn't have the power to do. And it hurt my heart, my heart begged for freedom to run and escape. But it hurt, could I really just leave Garou here…

“You must think.. I’m pathetic …You're laughing at me in your head aren't you,” he said. 

No, how could I be laughing at you? How could I be laughing at this? It wasn't a comedy that was playing out before my eyes, but yet another chapter in the green dragon's tragedy. There was only one thing I could say. 

“You're not pathetic,” I said. 

“Don't you pretend you're not laughing,” he snapped. 

His eyes once again becoming wild. I was about to say, How could you be pathetic, even as awful as you were for the most part you always did take care of me. It had only been the last few years that you started to lose your grip. And I couldn't ever forgive you for the pain you caused to me, but I also couldn't just throw away my feelings.

The feelings I had when you took me out to see the stars, when you gently bandaged my wounds, when you let me cry into your arms when I was a child because my chains hurt and I didn't understand. 

I couldn't forget that. But I couldn't say it, as if those personal words couldn't leave my lips. Instead, I muttered. 

“No matter how badly the villagers treated you…you never used your dragon power to hurt them,” I said softly. 

Instead, you took it out on me. Not a healthy relationship but I could take it, I could take the abuse and learn from Shu-Ten to fight back. I was the closest person in this village to his own strength, in that matter. Green dragons only had each other. It wasn't right, but it was better than killing all the other villagers. I never wanted them to die. I just wanted them to let me go. 

And even though I hated what they had done to me. I still didn't want revenge. I still didn't want them dead. And thinking about it now I don't think I would ever have forgiven Garou if he had taken revenge on them and killed them. Even if it was to escape himself, or to take me away. That wasn't how I wanted to escape.

Garou looked at me stunned as if he couldn't believe what I was saying. I couldn't believe what I was saying. He stood back up sadly. 

“B..because …my whole life I caused problems.. for them..” he said. 

_“Just like how I was constantly causing problems for you,”_ I thought. 

“Yet…they still looked after me. It's been a living hell…but I had nowhere else to go,” he said. 

Did you ever try? I wanted to ask. I had a feeling that all green dragons tried at least once to escape. Did he ever try? 

But I couldn't bring myself to ask that. He was remembering something that was clearly painful. Maybe he had almost gotten away and something called him back, or he felt too trapped to ever escape. Lost in his thoughts, I saw tears brimming in his eyes. Maybe there was nothing left to say, maybe I had said my piece. We both knew he was about to die. 

I walked forward, never turning back. There was nothing here for me, nothing I wanted to take with me from this cold place to remember the hell I had been through. I wanted to forget it all, and live my life the way I wanted to. I pushed open the door slowly revealing the light of dawn outside, the slow creak was music to my ears as morning light flooded the dark room.

I hesitated ….Maybe there was one thing that I couldn't leave behind. Garou was sitting behind me as if we had switched places. All those times he left walking to the sunlight while I was trapped in the dark. Here I was about to leave, and he was sitting giving up. As if invisible chains bound his own wrists and legs.

And my heart broke. He was so close to death and he was willing to die here of all places, here where he couldn't even see the sky. No, not on my watch. I couldn't just leave him to die in the dark where green dragons suffered, no one deserved that. 

I turned around, opening my hand. Garou looked confused not understanding what I meant. I would never forgive him, I don't think I could. There was too much pain mixed with the other emotions of the good times we had. 

But I couldn't leave him to die alone here. There was one thing I would take with me. Thanks to Shu-Ten, I knew I was strong enough to lift him, to jump while carrying him. So even though his own power was gone, I could still bring him with me. 

“Let's go,” I said. 

He looked at me stunned eyes on my outstretched hand. As if he couldn't believe it. I gulped, my throat almost closing with emotion. 

“Come with me..Garou into the sky,” I said. “Fly with me.” And at thous words, he broke down. It was his turn to bite his lip holding back tears. 

“What are you saying …” he hesitated. His voice as shaky as his legs. “Your face…is a mess from me beating you. How stupid are you to ask me? I’m so close to death..” he said. 

_“I know that's why I can’t leave you here. You at least deserve to die where you can see the sky. That was the least any green dragon deserved.”_ I thought.

Slowly Garou got up, his legs were week. A flicker of doubt hit my mind, was I really strong enough to take him with me. If only it was still night. But the growing light told me the other villagers were up, and if they found out that I had full power they might have better chains. I had to go now before they had another chance. They couldn't keep me here any longer. 

But even as the thought was in the back of my mind, I knew I couldn't leave him. Even if this was the same mistake other green dragons had made, trying to take someone else with them. I had to be true to myself, and I couldn't leave him to die in the dark.

We walked together stepping into the dawn, feeling the sunlight on my face. I smiled my long dream was coming true. I was finally leaving, about to fly. Finally free to be myself. 

“We can’t allow that,” a harsh old voice yelled. 

_“Uh oh,”_ I thought looking up seeing the village elder with several archers standing right outside my cell. Damn it, how had he known. 

“We can’t permit you two to leave,” he said. 

“Elder,” Garou said confused. The villagers drew their bows, holding the stings taunt arrows aimed right for my heart. 

My heart raced, I had waited too long. I had let my overconfidence in my power cloud my judgment.

I had forgotten that this village had kept the power of the green dragons contained for ages. How stupid was I to think that I would be free just because I had the full power when this village had been keeping full-powered green dragons chained down for years. 

“I told you. When word of the dragon power got out 85 years ago ..people from our village were captured and tortured by thous who wanted the power for themselves,” he said. 

I scoffed to myself, as if bandits need an excuse to raid a town. 

“This is our law now. If you try to escape Jae-Ha we will shoot you down,” he yelled. 

I eyed the archers, their arrows aimed for me. I made eye contact with one not much older than I was. Sweat tricked down his determined and scared face. His pale purple eyes were shaped like mine, was I related to him. Couldn't be my father ..maybe a brother, or cousin, or coincidence. 

I don't know, maybe if the green dragons were allowed to know their family, then we could be swayed to stay here. Maybe we would be content to stay in this village if we weren't treated like prisoners. 

I glared at the archer. A stranger to me, while his arms trembled but still held the strength to point that arrow at me. Could I make it, I had to. I wasn't staying here any longer. 

Garou saw my leg tense up, in that moment I didn't care if it killed me. Better to die free than to live my life as a prisoner, like Garou did. 

“Don't move. Do as we say and you won’t be harmed,” the archer yelled. 

As if that was supposed to motivate me. I was done playing around. No more would I put up with this. I was not going to that cell again. You won’t be harmed. As if chaining me to the ground wasn't going to kill me. 

I glared at the archers. Their arrow's tips quivered, aimed for me. How fast could I be, could I leap high enough to be out of range before they shot. Probably not, but I narrowed my eyes, this ended now. 

Suddenly Garou ran forward screaming “Ahhhhrrgg.” Lunging for the archers. 

I stood there stunned not knowing what was going on, unable to believe the strength in his legs that just a moment ago were so week. 

“What.” 

“Stop.” 

“What are you doing.” 

“Stop.” The villagers yelled. Scrambling for their weapons to defend against Garou’s wild attacks. 

All while I, with all the power in the world, all the determination, the legacy of the four dragons within me, the blood of warriors, stood there frozen with fear and shock. 

“Jae-Ha,” I heard Garou yell. Snapping me out of my daze seeing the villager try to hold him back, while he wildly kicked out. His green hair falling all over his face. 

“YOU IDOUT!” he yelled. “WHO’D WANT TO GO WITH YOU!” he screamed. 

My heart felt like an arrow had plunged itself inside of me. What was he saying, he just agreed to come with me, Why? 

“I’m sick of looking after kids,” he said. Kicking the villagers off of him. “Get out of here,” he yelled. 

My heart thumped, did he mean it. After all the years of chaining me down, all his words about how keeping me grounded made him feel alive, he was telling me to flee to run away, to escape. 

“Garou.” 

“Hold him,” the villagers yelled. Including the one with purple eyes. But their strength was nothing compared to Garou’s. 

“Go off somehow on your own,” he yelled. 

My breathing quickened as I watching him, holding onto every word he said. As if he was the only person I could see.

“Fly away,” he yelled. 

My heart thumped, _“Fly away, fly away.” “No one can keep the green dragon on the ground,” “Fly away.”_ The words I had been holding on to for so long, now uttered out of my father figures mouth telling me to go. But I couldn't just leave him behind. I promised to get him to safety too …

“I hate you. It’ll be a relief it have you gone,” he yelled. 

And my heart stopped, he hated me ..But when he comforted me as a child. The night he took me to see the stars, I knew I was taking his life, and said some awful things to him, and even said I wanted him to die. But …he hated me…

But when I looked closer to his eyes, they had tears spilling out of them as he smiled at me. 

“Don’t ever come back you idiot,” he yelled. 

I bit my lip trying to keep tears from spilling in my own eyes, as I knew finally what he was doing, what a father should do for his child. 

I turned back sadly. _“I wish …I wish that things could have been different. Why couldn't you have done this earlier? Why wait until death's door? Why couldn't you have just flown away?”_ I thought as I turned running. 

But even though my legs felt lighter than ever, my heart weighed me down. My triumphant moment of finally escaping was undermined by Garou’s sacrifice so that I could escape. Damn the arrows, damn the gods, we should have been able to fly away together. 

I coiled my leg, a single step in a run was all I needed having all the power to leap for the heavens in a single step. Soaring higher and higher. I heard the villagers yelling behind me, probably to fire their arrows. I heard the hiss of the arrows fire behind me and the yells 

“Urrg he's out of arrow range.” 

“After him.” 

But the loudest and last sound I heard amid the rushing wind was Garou falling to the ground. I didn't look back, I wanted to, but I wouldn't waste his sacrifice. His final gift to me was the freedom I longed for, that he never had. And just as my jump reached its peak I heard his voice, softer, kinder, and gentler than he ever had spoken to me.

“There see, no arrow can reach you. No one can challenge you. Fly away as far as you can. Green dragon god, please protect him.” I heard. 

As I started my descent down I could almost see Shu-Ten standing in the sky, a cocky grin on his face slouching, still holding his spear, as a green shimmering snake-like spirit rose up towards him. He smiled to me waving once before vanishing with the serpent. 

“Garou …he already has,” I mumbled softly. Feeling tears start to blur my vision. I would never know if I really saw that, or imagined it. Sorta like my dream with two young boys with white and blue hair. Forever trapped between the realms of dreaming and waking and never really knowing where the boundaries lay. 

The ground rushed up to meet me as I bent my knees. My dragon leg absorbing the shock, springing up again reaching for the sky. But I couldn't taste my freedom. It was too bittersweet. 

I couldn't smell the sky through my stuffy nose. I couldn't feel the wind through the cold I felt from my heart. Tears blurred my vision so I could only see blue blurs as I ran. One leap after another.

I had to make it far away. The villagers would surely chase me down. I had to escape far away. Far, far, away. So far they would never think to look. That Hiryuu would never think to look for me. Far away, where I could finally be free. 

The fight wasn't over yet, I may be free but I wasn't safe yet. Not where I was still close enough to see the trees that belonged to my village. 

I missed Garou, I wished he had just acted sooner, it wasn't fair. We should have been able to escape together I couldn't believe that. After everything he put me through he sacrificed himself for me, that was unreal but maybe it was also his way of saying sorry for all the pain he caused. It didn't make it right, one final sacrifice when his life was already over. But seeing the image of the green serpent …no, not serpent.. dragon. Racing upwards to heaven helped put my mind at ease.

The further I got from the village the more at peace I began to feel. As if I could feel Garou’s spirit finding peace after so long, and that also brought me peace. 

Then and only then did I become aware of what I was doing. I was flying, I really was flying. I spread open my arms yelling “YAAHOOOO!” 

Feeling the wind on my face, seeing the trees rush up underneath me I was really flying. My face couldn't help but break in the biggest grin ever my cheeks hurt but I couldn't stop. 

“This power is the best power ever,” I yelled. I was finally flying into the sky.

No one could take me. No one could catch me ever again. I was free. The words I heard all thous years ago. _“To keep the green dragon on the ground that's something no one can do.”_ They were finally true. I made it, I really made it. I did it. I was really, truly, finally free and I couldn't contain my happiness. 

Each soaring rush of accelerating made me giddy as I laughed and laughed. Tears formed in my eyes again at the sheer joy of finally being free. With each step, I felt like I had more energy like I could jump high enough to reach the stars. 

My heart felt light my leg pulsed with power and energy. My whole body a collied spring leaping higher and higher each time. 

My stomach soared and dropped as I ascended and descended in an adrenaline rush, the best adrenaline rush I ever had. it was amazing! The best feeling ever. 

“Take that destiny, I'm free! You can’t beat me. Dragons or destiny I don't care about any of it. I’m free.” 

Soaring in the sky I looked around twirling in the sky. I smiled as I landed, the leaves falling everywhere as I tore them from the trees with my descent. I looked up to the sky to where both Shu-Ten and Garou were watching me out of sight, but I could still feel their presence. 

I grinned “Alright I’m free. Now the real adventure begins,” I said. 

It was time to make my own story, my own legend that had nothing to do with the dragon warriors. Time to explore the world, time to find myself. I couldn't contain myself, I didn't want to. Not able to stand one second on the ground as I jumped again reaching for the sweetest sky in the world. I had finally achieved my dream, I had escaped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone who celebrates Christmas heres your early Christmas present. And for everyone who doesn't heres your unbirthday gift..unless it is your birthday so happy birthday. :) Two chapters in one week including the final chapter.
> 
> Thank you all for reading I had so much fun writing this! It was a challenge to use the dialog from the manga and add Jae-Ha's internal monologue but totally worth it! Gods I feel so bad for him. Zeno has arguably the worst backstory but I always feel so bad for Jae-Ha. Born to fly and unable to for so long. I'm so happy he escaped.
> 
> Announcement: Just started posting book 2. Check it out if you're interested :) If you have any feedback for this or any of my other work let me know, I’m working hard to become a professional.


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